|
|
8 Days With
Western Outdoors
We reach the Ridge by sun up, and though it's wide open on the 23 Fathom Spot for yellowtail and tuna, their size is disappointing, and soon we're cutting morning glass in search of wahoo. Before the sun can pry itself off the horizon, we get our first stop, and the pattern for a great day is set. Braid Marauders dragged short in the foaming wake are raising 'hoos like clockwork, giving those throwing bait or wahoo bombs their chance for glory.
Clockwise from top: This wahoo-scarred Marauder was brand new only two days prior. Pete Soteros displays a nice dorado trolled up on a Braid Ten Pin. Steve Ownbey and deckhand John Glynn show off Ownbey's Alijos bigeye. Trolling for wahoo around Alijos Rocks.
Bill Randall and J.T. Flannery dip into their considerable saltwater expertise, racking up good numbers on the skinnies -- including a 55-pound 'hoo for Randall that earns him third place in the jackpot. Spry as a 20-year-old but actually in his 70s, Flannery keeps world-record pace as he sprints around the deck with his bowlegged, Popeye-like gait, hotly pursuing one speeding wahoo after another.
Using a Fenwick 865XH SeaHawk California rod he won in the previous night's raffle, Chi Korta Kul puts a fatty 'hoo on deck. Not so for Pete Soteros, who is having trouble breaking his wahoo jinx. An expert angler, Soteros is hooking his share, but losing 'em to bite offs or tangles. Frustrated but persistent, Pete confesses he has never landed a wahoo, despite numerous long-range trips. Finally, he gets one in, lets out a holler and announces, "That damn fish cost me $20 grand."
On the next stop, Soteros changes gears . . . fighting a striped marlin to long release.
That afternoon, the American Angler works from the 38 Spot down to Thetis Bank, back to the 23 and then towards the Pistol; everywhere we go, the marlin are thick. We're still killing the skinnies, all right, but now it's common to have two or three billfish hooked up on baits meant for wahoo. Most get free on their own, while others are intentionally broken off by anglers who prefer to concentrate on wahoo.
Nancy Shubin stops the boat with a marlin that rises to a trolled Marauder and, as she's fighting her fish from the bow, Lane Buxton goes bendo on bait. He is using a Fenwick 670, 40-pound mono and an 18-inch wire leader rigged with a 4/0 Mustad hook, and the gear holds up to the stress of a tail-walking 140-pounder that's headed for China. Buxton hangs tough, and both he and Shubin land their fish. Later, Dan Shubin, Nancy's beau, gets one in, and chooses to let it go.
At the end of the day, the Western Outdoors charter has tallied a half dozen marlin and 56 wahoo, most of the skins ranging between 45 and 55-pounds, and capped by Michael Halapoff's 66-pounder -- good enough for second-place jackpot.
We spend the night on anchor at the 23 Spot, and the calm, balmy conditions make it a veritable Life 'O Riley for the night fishermen, who do well with small to medium size yellowtail, skipjack and yellowfin tuna. The gray sees a slightly better grade of tuna move in, but action for these 20 to 25 pounders is short-lived.
A yellowfin from Alijos Rocks is reason to smile for Andy Brotherton (right), a sentiment shared by Brad Willsey and Ken Frisk (below right, left and right, respectively). Bottom, Lane Buxton admires a wahoo being brought over the bow by deckhand Mike Miller.
By full daylight, Capt. Evans elects to chase wahoo again -- but today's bite starts out scratchy. Under the thin overcast of subtropical Baja skies, the skipper has no choice but to get rid of one deadbeat trolling team after another. By midafternoon, the 'hoos begin to show interest, however, and stops become more frequent. Once again, marlin are mixed in, and several are brought to release, including one by this writer the captain estimates at 175 pounds.
Today's wahoo also are showing better size, with one in the 80-pound class caught by Nancy Shubin while trolling her lucky Marauder. Ken Frisk prefers the bomb, and uses the high speed Newell reel he won in last night's drawing to crank the lure fast enough to attract the attention of a real fatty, a solid 65-pounder. Joe May also demonstrates bomb expertise, and his preference for a Newell casting head and matching skirt leads him to a first-place jackpot with a 77-pound wahoo.
After gorging on a prime rib dinner, it's time to make bait, and tonight the greenback mackerel really rain on. The American Angler's tanks are topped off in no time, and as we grab some shut-eye the boat moves three hours up the Ridge to the 13 Fathom Spot. This will be our last chance to fish at night, and the dozen or so who drag themselves out of the sack experience outstanding yellowtail fishing on dropper loops or yo-yo iron. The majority of yellows aren't particularly large, but every so often someone nails a 15 or 20 pounder; "Killer" Mike Heflin, in particular, seems to have the knack for finding the bigger forktails, logging five of the larger units.
Catches of pargo, pinto bass and gulf grouper add spice to the mix, and Craig Oda's "all night, all day" diligence pays off when he pulls the trigger on a 50-pound gulf grouper, which a jacked-up Oda two-speeds to the boat in short order.
The first tuna begin to show right at gray, and by sunrise we've got a full-rack foamer going. Every bait is getting hammered by a yellowfin in the 12 to 20-pound class, with the larger fish pushing the 25 to 30-pound mark. Want to throw iron? It's instant, especially on the skip jig.
Atop the tank, Capt. Brian Evans throws chum with a gleam in his eye . . . laughing, joking and shouting encouragement as tuna explode all around the boat. The bite stays wide for three hours, by which time we've hooked nearly 300 tuna. Numbers-wise, it's the best bite of the trip.
With only a couple of hours left before we have to leave for home, Evans tries one more shot at wahoo. Expertly tacking through the maze of boat traffic that has piled up on the high spot (including the Polaris Supreme, a yacht, a small Mexican seiner and three bait boats), the American Angler raises only a couple of short biters. This prompts our skipper to re-anchor on the 13, where immense breezers of scad mackerel and skipjack foreshadow another excellent yellowfin bite. These tuna are bigger yet -- averaging between 25 and 35 pounds -- and for the next two hours we pull our arms off. One by one, anglers rack their rods . . . too worn out to continue.
Already we've tarried too late, and in a fitting finale to what has been an outstanding Western Outdoors Adventure in Sportfishing, we leave 'em biting.
Managing Editor Ron Eldridge, an accomplished long-range fisherman, hosted our readers' charter on the American Angler.
Western Outdoors thanks the fine manufacturers who donated tackle giveaways for our 8-day readers' charter aboard Capt. Dan Sansome's American Angler, based out of Point Loma Sportfishing, San Diego.
Each angler on board received a Fenwick cap and assortment of premium O. Mustad saltwater hooks, plus, nightly drawings were held for high-speed Newell graphite reels, Fenwick SeaHawk California rods, Braid wahoo bombs and wire leaders, packages of "designer" Mustad hooks, and American Angler hats and t-shirts.
For additional information on any of these companies' products, contact them at:
Fenwick, Outdoor Technologies Group, One Berkley Drive, Spirit Lake, IA 51360; (800) BERKLEY.
Newell Mfg. Co., Attn., Richard Hightower, 940 Allen Ave., Glendale, CA 91201; (213) 245-9641.
O. Mustad & Son, Inc., P.O. Box 838, Auburn, NY 13021; (800) 453-4540.
Braid Products, Inc., 616 East Ave. P, Palmdale, CA 93550; (805) 266-9791.
American Angler Ltd., 1403 Scott St., San Diego, CA 92106; (619) 223-5414.
⌐ Western Outdoors 1997. All rights reserved.
